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My mistake for so many years was to try to accept that I
wasn’t what I was experiencing myself to be. In other words, I felt I was a
self, but I tried to get myself to realize that I was Truth or Spirit or Mind
or whatever you want to call It. It would have been better to allow myself to
feel I was a self and to also invite Truth into my awareness. In practice, of
course, this is what eventually occurred. I would, time and again, say, “This
is what I experience, dammit, and I’m not going to deny it anymore.” But it
would have been a lot less painful if between those moments of honesty I didn’t
fall back into guilt and feel I had to try to accept what was unacceptable from
the point of view that I was a self.
There was no reconciling my experience as a self and my
experiences of Truth. I really just had to experience each apart from the
other. This is the experience of the split mind. But mind seeks to be whole. So
it seeks to reconcile its parts. However, Wholeness is. It is not made…

There are two approaches one can take to a spiritual
teaching. In one the teaching is an end in itself. The goal of the student is
to master the teaching. The emphasis of study for them is to find the “right
way” to understand the material. Therefore, they often engage in arguments with
other students over the correct way to interpret the material. They are often
unhappy with teachers they feel are not “right” in their interpretation.
In the other approach, the Awareness of Truth (Holy Spirit)
is the Goal. And the teaching is seen as an instrument that the Awareness of
Truth in the student’s mind uses to help them reach that Goal. So the student
does not seek the “right way” to read the material, but rather asks the
Awareness of Truth in their mind for the most helpful way to understand it. The student emphasizes their
experiences of Truth over the material they study, which they recognize are
just symbols on a page. They have no reason to argue with others over the
correct interpret…

“I was doing my
morning reading of the Course when I
came upon this statement in Text-4.7.5:
'God Who encompasses all being, nevertheless created distinct beings who have
everything individually, but who want to share it to increase their joy.
Nothing that is real can be increased except by sharing it.' This confuses me a
bit...thinking we need to lose the individual…” – JW Yes,
it is a confusing quote out of context and seems to contradict much that A Course in Miracles says about Oneness.
And it certainly contradicts the experience of Oneness! Oneness means one and
the same throughout. There is no distinction to be made in What is One. The
conversational nature of ACIM, especially in the first few chapters, also makes
it confusing because there is an implied understanding between the Voice and
Helen so there is a lack of helpful elaboration for the rest of us. But that
quote is understandable if you remember that in ACIM “to create” means “to
extend” rather than “to bring in…

“…I try to
follow your descriptions when you refer to the mind but it seems there are so
many versions of “mind” I wondered if you could find an easy way for the very
simple person (me) to explain so I can understand? So for example in your last
mind you mentioned--Universal mind--Universal split mind--hybrid mind, and simply
mind. Is this linked to the ladder of the split which Kenneth Wapnick referred
to?”
- CL There
is only one Mind (Truth), but we experience Mind as though It is split between
Truth and not-Truth. The part of Mind where the idea of not-Truth seems to
occur I refer to as the one or universal split-mind. (In A Course in Miracles this is called the “Son of God”). It is this split-mind that projects the
universe of form, including billions of versions (“sons of God”) of itself. You
experience yourself as one of these projected split-minds. The split in you
shows up as two thought systems, the Awareness of Truth (Holy Spirit) and the
personal thought system (ego).
The “…

Last week I wrote about an experience of the Light of Love
coming into my mind and the product, a lesbian romance novel, which came about
because of it (http://acimmentor.blogspot.com/2017/11/an-interesting-thing-happened-this.html). (The “Light of Love” can also be called the Vision of
the Holy Spirit, the Vision of the Holy Relationship, Spiritual Vision, the
Real World, True Perception, etc.) There was also a great deal of personal
psychological processing that occurred when it began. I noted that the novel
was not “channeled”, though it “rode in”, on the Light. So where did it come
from?
It came from what I call the
“hybrid-mind”. This is a blend of this split-mind and the universal split-mind.
Both of these contain the awareness of Truth. To explain:
This split-mind is a singular
expression of the universal split-mind. The Truth in this split-mind is
universal. But not-Truth in this split-mind is unique. Not-Truth is this
particular personal thought system (ego) and the personal…

An interesting thing happened in this mind this summer. But
first, some background:
As many of you know, I have published five books and written
many articles, all non-fiction, all with spiritual themes. But my writing began
with fiction at the age of ten. All my life I have devised plots in my mind,
inspired by any number of things. It’s just the way this mind often occupied
itself.
I finished two novels, one in my early twenties and one in
my early thirties. Both were love stories. The first was heterosexual. The
second, more authentically for me, was between two women. Though both were
submitted to publishers, neither was published. I did not consider myself very
good at writing fiction, though I loved the process. Eventually, fiction
writing fell away naturally, though my mind continued to produce plots and
characters.
My non-fiction, spiritual writing began in my early forties,
as my blog. I have not stopped writing spiritual themed books and articles
since (I am fifty-four). Th…

“i am
currently reading 'The ACIM Mentor
Articles: answers for students of a course in miracles' and as some of the entries are from 2006 etc, i am wondering if they
are still relevant to your current teachings now, as you seem to have developed
and sometimes have different ways of perception.” – HE

Yes, I have evolved and much of what I wrote back
then I would not write now. However, what I wrote then was authentic to where I
was then. So many readers still find those articles relevant to where they are now. I get a lot of positive
feedback about that book's practical approach.

Also, working one-on-one with others, I try to
meet them where they are, not where I am. So with clients I teach what was
relevant to me when I was where they are now. In that respect I still teach
some of what I wrote back then.

FYI: The last article in that book was April,
2010. For articles written since then you can go to my blogsite,
www.blogspot.acimmentor.com.

Continuing with the themes of “the way out is through” and
“the fear to look within”…
I have found that grief is the emotion that is most often
resisted and repressed. It is also often unidentified.
All loss entails feelings of grief, to varying degrees.
Sometimes we go through it quickly. You miss a phone call and you experience
denial (“I can’t believe I missed that.”), anger/depression (“Oh, I really
wanted to speak with them.”), and, finally, understanding/acceptance (“Oh,
well, they’ll call back.”). In other situations these stages take longer to
process. Sometimes, in the case of a major loss, it can take years to fully
reach understanding and acceptance.
Grief is painful, sometimes excruciating, but it is not
really a negative emotion. It is the
process our minds use to heal. The way out of grief is to go through the
process. We repress grief because it is so painful and/or because we don’t want
to acknowledge the loss. But when we don’t go through the process we don’t
heal. A…

Last week I wrote about how the way out of emotions that are
obstacles to being aware of Truth and being at peace is not to deny or repress
them but to go through them. But many people struggle to do this. And that’s
because the first obstacle you encounter is a belief that if you look inward
you will not be able to cope with what you find. Sometimes it seems you fear
you will be overwhelmed by your emotions, but what you really fear is to see the
guilt that you believe is there. “…Loudly the ego tells
you not to look inward, for if you do your eyes will light on sin, and God will
strike you blind. This you believe, and so you do not look…” (T-21.IV.2)
Guilt is what sustains the ego (personal thought system) in
your mind. It wants you to believe in guilt. So as much as you might not want
to look at the guilt in your mind, the ego is not threatened by you doing so. What
it really fears when you look inward is that you will see past it. You will see
that there is no guilt. “…Beneath you…

When I started out on this path to Peace I was very young. I
was drawn to Truth, but I was also hoping to avoid pain. I wanted to use my
growing spiritual awareness to do so. But it quickly became obvious this was
not going to happen. Pain did not go away. But it was my fear of denial that
had set me on this path in the first place, so I was not going to use the path
for another form of denial. If I found I was doing so, I’d pull myself back and
face whatever I had to face.
Not only was I not going to avoid the pain of the personal
life, but there was the pain of the spiritual path to deal with, too. It is not
that it has to be painful. It is just
that it is inevitably painful to look
into one’s mind at one’s obstacles to peace. If I didn’t think they were
painful, they wouldn’t be obstacles! The only way to overcome obstacles and get
out of the pain is to go directly into and through the ideas and beliefs that
cause them. And that is experienced as painful until I am through them an…

A few questions and requests for clarity came after last
week’s article (http://acimmentor.blogspot.com/2017/10/finally-real-choice.html).
Also, I have something to add. So I will try again:
The body’s eyes report what it sees to the mind. It sees forms
that have no meaning in themselves. So the universe of form is like a blank
screen with regard to meaning.
Your mind always perceives
inward. If you are in the Holy Spirit (Awareness of Truth in your mind) you
know this and you see Real Perception, or what A Course in Miracles calls the “real world”. This is a Vision of
Love or Light within. This inward Vision extends outward to the universe of
form. This “colors” the way you see form, but you are aware of this. You do not
have the illusion that how you see form comes from the forms the body’s eyes
report. You know you are seeing your own mind.
In the ego (personal though system) you also always perceive
only inward. However, you project your perceptions away onto the universe of
form…

A Course in Miracles
teaches that we always look inward before we look outward. And it has always
been easy for me to see True Perception (the Real World, Christ’s Vision, Holy
Spirit’s Vision, etc. in ACIM) as a wholly inward Vision. When I experience It
I also see the universe of form is meaningless. It is a blank canvas. The
Vision may extend to form but I know the source is me, not the forms the body’s
eyes report. In a way, I see a world overlaid over the world of form and I know
that “real world” is in me. This overlaid
world actually overlooks form because
it is meaningless.
But the ego’s (personal thought system’s) perceptions are
harder for me to see as only an inward perception. And that is because it always projects its perceptions away.
Even though I have learned to take back my perceptions by practicing sorting
out facts in form from my projection of meaning onto them, still there has
always been an attachment between my perceptions and the universe of form. This
is what …

“Lately, through
spending much more time in meditation (not necessarily stillness!), I seem to
be able to “drop into” a space of deep quiet and a new kind of being (knowing??)
for brief periods of time. My question is this: What does the Holy Spirit ‘feel
like’? I would love to think I’m finally able to experience my own
Teacher, but my mind (no surprise) kicks up a fuss and tells me this is just
brain waves, nothing special, don’t be silly, etc. etc. I do seem to get
responses to sincere requests for clarity, answers to questions and so on, but
again my mind tells me I am making everything up on my own. How would I
know the difference?” – MG
You have experienced the Holy Spirit (Awareness of Truth in
your mind) in the quiet knowing you described as well as in the clarity and
answers you received. You can trust this.
You know it is the Holy Spirit when you feel set free from
confusion, guilt, and fear in their various forms. There’s a lifting and
lightening. When it is the ego (per…

“An interesting follow-on topic in your
blog may be specific examples that may be used to determine if you have
outgrown your relationship…as it applies to ACIM followers…” – JW It
does not matter if one is a student of A
Course in Miracles or not. It does not matter the relationship, whether it
be romantic, family, friend, to a job, to an object, etc. The determinant of
when to leave a relationship is the same: When the pain of
staying outweighs the pain of leaving. Some
people are healthier and can recognize it is time to leave before it gets too
painful. In their case, they recognize that if they stay the pain of staying
will outweigh the pain of leaving. They do not wait for it to get too painful. >>>>> Are you in a painful relationship
and trying to determine if it’s time to leave? Email me at Liz@acimmentor.com
to set up a telephone appointment. Learn more at www.acimmentor.com.

If you have a question the answer to
which you think will help others, email it to me at …

A common issue with my clients is the resistance they feel
to practice, be it study, meditation, doing the lessons, making the Holy Spirit
(Awareness of Truth in your mind) their Constant Companion, etc. But resistance
is part of the process. It does not mean something is wrong. It does not mean
you are failing.
Resistance really means “not ready” or “not now”. It does
not mean you have fallen off the path.
For example, you may go through a hungry stage where you
cannot study enough. But then you find one day that you do not want to study at
all. Or if you try the words just seem to bounce of your mind and not
penetrate. This is not necessarily resistance to further study. This can be
that you are so saturated with what you have taken in that you need to process
it before you can take in more. A lot of this processing is unconscious. It
shows up as a lack of motivation to study. But when you are done processing you
will find yourself motivated to study again.
Sometimes you are just …

“Only what you
have not given can be lacking in any situation.” (T-17.VII.4)
This quote is from the Text of A Course in Miracles. In context, it is about Helen Schucman’s and
Bill Thetford’s faith in their Holy Relationship. They were being told not to
blame the other when they lost sight of the Holiness of their relationship. The
Vision of the Holy Relationship was within each. It did not come to each from
the other. So if one did not see Holiness in the other the problem with within
them, not in the other.
This is, of course, a central lesson in ACIM. The issue is
always within you. I often use this quote with clients in a slightly different
context. They will share with me that they are not getting something from a
relationship. Often they will take this idea and feel that if they just gave
enough forgiveness or love the other would change. But I ask them if they are
giving themselves, through the relationship, what they want from the other. For
example, if they are in a relationsh…

There are certain words that students still identified with
the self use in their relationship with the Holy Spirit (Awareness of Truth in
their own minds) that not only have negative connotations that indicate or
increase fear; they are also not applicable. Two of those words are “submit”
and “surrender”.
To submit or surrender to the Holy Spirit would mean, first,
that the self is the correct view of yourself and it is from this view that you
must submit or surrender to the Holy Spirit; second, that the Holy Spirit is
something separate from you; third, that you can give up your power to It. All
of these are erroneous.
The difference between submission and surrender is that
submission sounds less defiant than surrender. Submission means you recognize
the Holy Spirit’s greater power and surrender sounds like you were defeated by
the Holy Spirit. But neither attitude is applicable toward the Holy Spirit
because the Holy Spirit is the thought
system in your mind that speaks for the Tr…

“I know it is ego, but…” is a phrase that is often said or
written to me by clients and readers. But often what is called “ego” (personal
thought system) is actually not the ego. Often it is just the personality of
the self expressing itself.
Why is this important? Because in order to let go of the ego
you have to see its boundaries. Otherwise you attempt to release what does not
need to be released. And this can feel discordant, giving the ego an
opportunity to tell you that you are being asked to sacrifice.
To recognize the ego’s boundaries you have to understand the
self’s boundaries, too. The self, as I use the term, is a body and personality.
It is part of the universe of form. It is the result of cause and effect at the
level of form. Your particular self is the effect of what has gone before in
the story of time. It has an authentic expression as part of the unfolding
story of time. And it is neutral in that it is neither good nor bad. It simply
is what has resulted from what …

“Liz the ego's
way into the world began with the thought ‘Is there something better?’ and a
way out of the ego's world began with Bill Thetford's thought ‘There must be a
better way’. Is it possible the ego asked both of these questions? The
first question responded to by the Father (God) and the second by a son Jesus?” – ESA God
(Truth), being All, must think of Its Own opposite. But being All, God cannot
have an opposite. The idea of not-God arose and was undone immediately by God’s
All-encompassing nature. It is as though God said, “What’s my opposite? Oh,
wait, I am All; I cannot have an opposite” and the idea was done. So there is
no intention behind the idea of not-God. Like God, it merely is. But unlike God
it has no meaning because it is impossible. Only in time, which is part of the
idea of not-Truth, does it seem that the idea of not-God began long ago and
will be undone in some indefinite future. So only in time, in not-Truth, does
lack and a need to fill the la…

“I have one
thing keeping me from embracing ACIM, and that is that I still don’t understand
non-violence. My question is, ‘If violence does not exist, then wars don’t
exist, genocide does not exist, because it is all an illusion? Then there is no
good nor bad, and one can do whatever they want?’But then,
nothing has meaning, and studying the book, and learning to think right also
has no meaning, and no merit. I simply don’t understand, the thinking seems
circular to me.I must be peace,
killing an animal is peaceful? If I had the opportunity to kill Hitler in the
middle of his act, with the thinking of non-violence, I should let him live?I am lost with
this work. Please help me.” – Anonymous You
actually have three questions here so it is no wonder you feel lost! One is a
question about non-violence, another is about morality, and the last is about
why you bother to study at all. With
regard to non-violence, A Course in
Miracles does not take a stand one way or the other on non-violence.…

“I am 78 and my sister
is 70. Ever since I can remember she has been ill with different conditions.
Before I learnt from ACIM that we choose
our own sickness I always felt helpless about this. Now I just feel angry! I
feel she is using the illnesses to get attention! It really irritates me that
her attitude is 'Poor me. I can't do anything because I have just had this fall
or I have this or that’...... Now on another level I know that this is my
lesson but on a practical level I don't know how to interact with her. We are
told to be kind! My reaction to that is that I should try to fix her problems.
I seem to have been doing that all my life but I don't want to do this
anymore!!!!! Help!” – Anonymous The
choice that A Course in Miracles
refers to with regard to what happens to the self in the world is for the entire experience of imperfection and
dysfunction that is the human experience. It is the opposite of God (Truth) in
every way. Illness, the vulnerability of
the …

“We (I) did not choose
separation, still, I , being a personal ‘mind’, choose to believe ego's thought
system, now.... although the Course
teaches me otherwise . You personal LIZ still experiencing LIZ as LIZ
constantly choosing to not follow her personal thoughts: Is this the daily NOW dream..? I experience
the dreamflow as reality with momentary ‘forgiveness’ workouts when things get
STUCK because I forget the dream as being a dream...” – ER A Course in Miracles
does not teach that you as a micro split-mind chose “separation from God”. It
teaches that the Son of God, or macro split-mind, made that choice. Your (micro
split-mind) choice is made only in the present.
You are also not a personal mind, or thought system. Your
mind is split between the thought system of the Holy Spirit and a personal
thought system (ego). You are not the
thought system but the mind choosing it. And that choice is made so unconsciously
that you do not even seem to have a choice. It’s like being aware …

There are things that become so clear without the belief in
guilt in the mind! For me, one of those things is the idea that “separation
from God” was not a choice made somewhere, sometime, perhaps by the “Son of
God” (macro split-mind). While I was studying A Course in Miracles the Holy Spirit (Awareness of Truth) would try
to get me to see that God (Truth) is One so there is no choice in God. Choice
is a part of not-God, which is the opposite of God, so there could be no choice
that caused the separation. Choice
only has meaning within the
separation. But I felt, without articulating it to myself, that someone had to be responsible for the
error. In fact I worked at being hyper-responsible for the separation by always
referring to it as something I chose even though I couldn’t see it. This is all
over my early writing.
What the Holy Spirit was trying to get me to see, and what I
can see now, is that nothing real has occurred, so how could there be a choice
that caused it? I don’t me…

I have been a student of A Course in Miracles since 1984, a life coach since 2000, and a mentor for students of A Course in Miracles and 4 Habits for Inner Peace since 2006. You can learn more about me and what I offer at my website, www.acimmentor.com.